


the tales of vesperia home alone au

by sagademadsen



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: Gen, plus a few other characters but their roles are pretty minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:21:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28139106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagademadsen/pseuds/sagademadsen
Summary: everyone trusts karol to be home alone. he insisted he could totally handle it. and under normal circumstances he felt that he could.dealing with two guards in pursuit of his favorite vigilante is not a normal circumstance though is it
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	the tales of vesperia home alone au

**Author's Note:**

> written because I suggested a home alone au to my friends jokingly- but then got too attached to the idea to not actually do it  
> cycled through a few fandoms before deciding that this one would probably be the best one to work with   
> so here we are

“Are you sure you can handle this, Karol?” 

Estelle had asked him that. Could he? It was the first time since Brave Vesperia had been formed- actually, probably the first time since he’d first encountered Yuri and Estelle, that he’d be left alone to his own devices for an extended period of time. It had been so long that he wasn’t entirely sure.

Everyone was branching off to take care of various duties: Yuri had mentioned going to a different town to find the specific ingredients for something he wanted to cook (although Rita mentioned he may actually just be dodging the authorities here for a bit). Raven had disappeared off somewhere again. Judith had also cited some “business to attend to.” But whatever tasks these actually were one thing was certain- that these were tasks which the adults were not comfortable (or willing) to share the information with Karol. 

In fact, they were so unwilling that they created a new job for him: to stay in the base they had here and watch over their belongings. Karol knew this idea had been haphazardly thrown out- they never left their belongings behind before- but oh, did Yuri express that it was of the utmost importance, so who would he be to object? Certainly not a responsible guild leader. 

“Of course he can handle it,” Yuri answered for him, waving his hand as to wave away any thoughts otherwise. “He is the captain after all. Looking after a few spare gels and whatnot is hardly a task for someone with such an important title. Right, Captain Karol?”

“Huh? Oh… yeah…” he agreed distantly. 

“We shouldn’t be gone too long,” Estelle added. “But if things start getting too unbearable to deal with, you just find us as quickly as possible!”

“And don’t even _think_ about going through our things,” added Rita. 

“I know! You guys don’t have to worry about anything! It’s not like I’m a kid.” Karol smiled with a feigned amount of confidence as he followed the remainder of the party to the door. “Have fun! Hope you find something cool!” 

As soon as the door shut, the ghouls of uncertainty began swirling in Karol’s mind. Why was this concept causing him so much inner turmoil? Maybe in the past things went wrong with his guild when he was left in charge. But this wasn’t that. Nor was he the same Karol Capel as in those instances. Even if no one else saw it, acknowledged it, admitted it he did; he knew that he had grown. Perhaps remnants of being that eager to please kid remained within him. But these days he had the ability to match his eagerness with ability to actually please. 

For this he was grateful. 

And it was in large parts thanks to Yuri. Wasn’t it? Hadn’t Yuri been the first adult to really believe in him? Believe in him and show it- rather than issuing trite statements of reassurance. Karol would probably cringe if he heard Yuri flat out say “I believe in you” at this point. But in regards to the fact that the older man deferred to him in situations where he knew Karol had knowledge, or constantly reinforced the fact that he was the captain of this guild… yes indeed. Yuri certainly did believe in him. 

And that’s why he didn’t complain about being made to stick behind. Surely no other adult would trust him to do something even as menial as this. And with this task completed successfully would come a building of trust, the confidence with much more difficult or laborious tasks; things which Karol had only dreamed that someone would trust him with. It was a process, and he would will himself to be patient with it- but sometimes it was easy to get excited about the future.

While eating dinner Karol heard a peculiar ruckus outside; the sounds of metal clanking against other metal, to a rhythm usually associated with knights in armor. There were indeed a few knights in this town. But for the ruckus to have been so loud… that was the peculiar part. 

“Ow! I say, that was my foot!”

“Well maybe your foot should stay out of my path!” 

A scattering of an argument, shushed, occurred until it got deathly silent for about ten seconds. The silence felt weird, eerie, foreboding- until sure enough there came a banging on the front door of Brave Vesperia’s base. 

“Yuriiiiiiii Lowellllll! Show yourself! Immediately!”

Karol gasped. The voice was unmistakeably familiar. He didn’t recall the name, but he did recall the man chasing Yuri all over Terca Lumeiris dead-set on arresting him. 

The good thing was that Yuri wasn’t here. 

But was it wise to answer the door? If Karol showed his face he may blow any cover Yuri could hope to have. There was always a chance the knights had never seen his face, but it wasn’t a chance he was willing to take. So now what was he to do?

“What if he’s not in here?” one of the knights asked. 

“Don’t be preposterous. We have eyewitness reports confirming he’s been here for the past three days. Although… I guess there is a possibility that he’s not here at this exact moment. Hmph…”

Yet another foreboding silence. 

“And there’s no evidence of movement in there either.” 

“Right… so now what?” 

“Well standing around here all night won’t do anything. Let’s come back… tomorrow. We aren’t gonna miss him two days in a row. And if no one answers we’ll have to investigate the place, make sure he didn’t leave any clues just in case he skipped town.”

As the footsteps began to get farther away a sense of urgency brewed into Karol. He knew he had to do something. But what? At this point he couldn’t be sure that Yuri and company would be back before the knights came. Karol couldn’t take them on on his own; this was a limitation he accepted. 

So now what? He’d come too far to lie down and take whatever the knights threw his way. The last thing he wanted to do was betray the trust of Yuri- of everyone but especially Yuri- the first adult who had ever dared to believe in him. 

It was then that Karol decided. He certainly wouldn’t accept defeat. Now was the time for action.

* * *

Karol stayed up all night preparing the base for what may happen. He was sure he’d hear a lecture from those who he had to borrow some materials from, but at the same time he was sure they’d understand. Better to have used those materials for defense than to have accepted being thrown into the dungeon for being an accomplice- and possibly leading to the arrest of everyone else in the process.

He didn’t discount the possibility that the others may arrive first though- which is why his plans had to be carried out so meticulously. He had gone to the effort of designing blueprints for the entire base’s floor plan, ensuring that he would hear anyone approaching so that he could disable any little surprises that one could come across upon entry, if they were a friend.

Being one person, this extensive planning and the resulting setup was the reason Karol had been up all night. The sun had already completely risen when he considered himself done. In a desperate attempt to get at least some rest he positioned himself on the second floor near an open window to try and rest until he heard any disturbances. 

The next sound he heard was the familiar clank of armor. 

Karol woke with a start, getting as close to the window as he could without being seen, to try and see what was transpiring outside the door. As soon as he saw exactly what he wanted to see- two knights notably missing their leader- he hurried to the other end of the base to make sure the first of his rigs was set up and functioning correctly. 

“Do you think he’s here today?”

“Well, regardless of if he’s here or not, you remember what the boss said. We force our way in! And then we look for clues.” 

“In that case… there’s been no answer.”

A resounding thud, another, once more… until there was the distinct sound of a bowling ball rolling on hardwood. Karol supposed, maybe, that if one was outside and clad in armor they wouldn’t hear this. But just as well. 

He would always fondly remember the resounding clang of the bowling ball clashing upon one of the knights’ helmets. 

In that moment he allowed himself a chuckle, before speeding off to the next post. And so things continued this way thanks to Karol’s extensive planning. 

Trying to get in through the window? Hefty book smack to the face. 

The side window? There was no entry, only paint cans. 

The back door? Prompt and swift electrocution. 

The cellar doors? A strong stream of water blasting them back. 

While the two were around back Karol heard footsteps in the front of the building. 

_ They’re back! _

He busted out into a sprint- for should the knights had managed to get into the house there would be yet another surprise as soon as the door opened. Not only that- he wanted to prevent any noise on this side should the intruders hear it. 

Karol opened the door in the nick of time- right as Yuri’s fist was positioned to knock. 

“Oh. Missed us that much?” 

“Well, you know…” Karol replied slyly. 

“Where did that bowling ball come from?” Rita asked as she stared at the window. “And is that one of my books?! What the hell happened here?!”

“…it’s a long story. Come inside, I gotta explain.” 

Once the door shut, Karol began to do just that. “See, last night these knights came and-“

The explanation was interrupted by a loud crash and thud in the back. Somehow this sped up the explanation greatly. 

“They’re in a hole in the backyard,” he finished. “They’re those guys who were looking for Yuri.” 

“Oh, Boccos and Adecor. They’re at the bottom of the barrel as knights go- but they can be annoyingly persistent, so I can understand not wanting to deal with them head on.”

“But what do we do, now that they’re in a hole in our backyard? Surely they won’t stay there,” pointed out Estelle. 

“Don’t you worry about that. I’ll make sure they turn tail and run.” Yuri pulled his sword from his sheath, casting it aside. “Oh, and thanks for holding down the fort, Captain Karol.”

The resulting warmth Karol felt at this recognition would remain in his memory for years to come, he was sure. 


End file.
